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Editorial: A "deteriorating" Afghanistan

Provide required resources, but clarify victory and exit strategy

Last update: August 25, 2009 - 9:52 PM

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SEND MORE TROOPS?

"Anytime you use these warriors you better be very, very clear what you're using them for and how you measure success."

Rep. Tim Walz, D, First District

•••

"I don't see how you get it done without more troops."

Rep, John Kline, R, Second District

•••

"What's the state of our civilian surge? Are we building institutions that the average Afghani is willing to stand up and protect?"

Rep. Keith Ellison, D, Fifth District

The recent death of 20-year-old Army Pfc. Jonathan C. Yanney, who lived briefly in Litchfield, Minn., added to the mounting toll that already makes 2009 the deadliest year yet for coalition forces fighting the nearly eight-year-old war in Afghanistan.

For too long the forgotten war, the conflict in Afghanistan is not going well, according to Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff. "I think it's serious, and it is deteriorating," Mullen told CNN. "The Taliban insurgency has gotten better, more sophisticated, in their tactics."

The enemy's gains have led many to speculate that Mullen and Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal will soon ask for more troops to reinforce the 68,000 in Afghanistan now, after the Obama administration added 17,000 in anticipation of last week's presidential election, which was plagued by security problems.

Unlike so many issues dividing Washington, the debate over adding soldiers -- along with defining the war's goals and exit strategy -- defies partisan lines. That should allow for a healthy, necessary national discussion. It should also lead to the conclusion that sacrifices such as Yanney's must not be in vain.

Members of Minnesota's congressional delegation who are on key committees will have seats at the table. "It would be unconscionable for us to throw in the towel," says Second District Republican Rep. John Kline, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee. "Which is what I'm afraid it would be if we're not providing the American commanders with what they think they need after these requests have been assessed from the Pentagon and the White House. We ought to make sure we're not wasting everything we've put into Afghanistan."

Recalling the role a Taliban-led Afghanistan played in 9/11, Kline says, "I hope we can remember far back enough in our collective memory to say no, we don't want that again."

First District Democratic Rep. Tim Walz, who sits on the House Veterans Affairs Committee, cautions that force alone is not sufficient. "It appears by every analysis that no one believes it's going to be rooting them out of the mountains cave by cave." Instead, Walz rightly focuses on tribal dynamics, more local control and an emphasis on rooting out corruption in the country.

The importance of those civilian efforts is echoed by Fifth District Democratic Rep. Keith Ellison, who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. Ellison worries about adding more troops, likening it to "calling for more water in a grease fire,'' because he fears the insurgency will only grow. "Anytime you have more civilian casualties, you create more combatants,'' Ellison says. "And so it's important to use coercive force very judiciously in Afghanistan as you are aggressively rebuilding institutions and training and equipping an Afghanistan force to secure those institutions."

The complexity of the congressional debate reflects the complexity of a war with no clear definition of victory or exit strategy in place. But America's national interest, along with the interests of her allies, are clear in preventing the re-creation of a safe haven and staging area for terrorist enemies.

With weakening public support for the war, the Pentagon and White House owe the American public a more specific strategic framework on Afghanistan, especially if military leaders ask for more troops. Just the same, America owes it to Yanney and others who have sacrificed so much to provide what is needed -- including more boots on the ground -- once a clear strategy is in place.

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